Gun turrets



R. G. VICKERS Oct. 24, 1967 GUN TURRETS Filed Jan. 25, 1966 Oct. 24, 1967 R. G. VICKERS 3,348,451

GUN TURRETS Filed Jan. 25, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 R. G. VICKERS Oct. 24, 1967 GUN TURRETS 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 25, 1966 Oct. 24, 1967 R. G. VICKERS 3,348,451

GUN TURRETS Filed Jan. 25, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

FIG. 4

United States Patent 3,348,451 GUN TURRETS Roy Gilbert Vickers, Grantham, England, assignor to Brevets Aero-Mecaniques S.A., Geneva, Switzerland, a society of Switzerland Filed Jan. 25, 1966, Ser. No. 522,909 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Apr. 26, 1965,

Claims. (CI. 8936) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A gun turret includes a rotatable cupola, a gun cradle mounted on trunnions about an elevation axis extending across the gun port with the major part of the cradle projecting outwardly from the port, a mantelet movable with the cradle to close the port at all firing angles, the interior of the cradle being accessible from inside the cupola. An exterior ammunition chute from the ammunition supply to the cradle is mounted to move with the cradle in elevation, the chute being arranged to feed linked ammunition While keeping the noses and bases of the rounds out of contact with the sides of the chute.

This invention relates to gun turrets for automatic guns of small caliber, such as 20 mm. especially for armored vehicles but also for use in fixed defense positions.

Among the more important features and considerations which must be taken into account in the development accommodated in a manner such as to enhance most of these features while .at least maintaining the advantages of others.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a turret with a gun mounting of which the major part preferably is outside the turret, so that is does not compete with other essential equipment for space inside the turret, but which gives access to the gun and ammunition feed mechanism for arming, cocking and operational servicing of the gun from inside the turret, while avoiding venting of propellant gas into the turret.

. In accordance with these objects the invention generally comprises a gun turret including a rotatable cupola'with a gun port in the cupola wall, a gun cradle mounted on trunnions about an elevation axis extending across the gun port, the major part of the gun cradle projecting outwardly from the gun port, a gun port mantelet movable with the cradle about the elevation axis to close the gun 'port at all firing angles of elevation, and ,a door at the rear end of the cradle accessible from inside the cupola to give access to a' gun in the cradle. A suitable counterbalance is provided to balance the cradle, with a gun therein, about the elevation axis.

According to another feature of the invention, the cupola wall, or an ammunition store or magazine carried by or with the cupola, has an ammunition outlet port, and an ammunition chute arranged outside the cupola extends from the ammunition outlet port to the gun cradle, the ammunition chute being mounted to move the gun cradle in elevation and having a mantelet to close the ammunition outlet port at all firing angles of elevation. Conveniently and preferably, the ammunition outlet port is located alongside the gun port so that it is crossed by the elevation axis, the ammunition chute is pivoted about the elevation axis across the outlet port, and the inlet end of the ammunition chute is formed as a mantelet to close the outlet port at all firing angles of elevation.

"ice

In order to lead the ammunition smoothly from the outlet port to the gun, the ammunition chute conveniently is curved, substantially in the axial plane of the rounds of ammunition, and extends through about from the outlet port to enter the gun cradle in front of the gun port. It is usual for the rounds of ammunition to be connected together, side by side, by spring metal links which make up a flexible belt of ammunition up to the feed mechanism of the gun by which the links are separated from the rounds and ejected.

In order to guide a linked ammunition belt in a flat curve, substantially in the axial plane of the rounds, the present invention provides a curved ammunition chute in which a series of sprockets are journaled on axes substantially radial to the curve of the chute and are located for the sprocket teeth to fit between the rounds and guide the belt round the curve by engaging the links between the rounds on the inside of the curve. This arrangement of guide sprockets provides for low-friction guiding of the ammunition belt and enables the noses and bases of the rounds to be kept out of contact with the sides of the ammunition chute.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art and armed with an understanding of the invention.

I have set forth with particularity in the appended claims those novel and improved features which I regard as characteristic of my invention, but the invention itself, its operation and advantages, will best be understood from the following description of a gun turret made in accordance with the invention and illustrated, by Way of example, in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional side elevation, showing a gun turret cupola in axial section and a gun cradle in side elevation, some parts being shown only in outline and others being omitted for clarity of illustration,

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the gun turret,

FIG. 3 is a plan corresponding to FIG. 2 with part of the ammunition chute broken away to show the guide sprocket arrangement, which is also shown by associated fragmentary views 3A and 3B, of which 3A is taken generally on the line BB of FIG. 3, and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional View, on the line IVIV of FIG. 3, showing the ammunition outlet port and the associated end of the ammunition chute.

As shown by the drawings, a gun turret armored cupola 1 is mounted to rotate in azimuth on a vehicle or other housing, indicated as 2, by a large diameter'inner race ring 3 supported by ball bearings 4 in a fixed outer race ring 5 of which the inner periphery has gear-teeth 6 to serve as a fixed training ring for training rotation in azimuth of the cupola by a pinion 7 on a motor 8 which is carried by the cupola and is under control of the gunner, The motor 8 may be combined with or replaced by a manual training gear. Such rotatable'mounting of the cupola is in accordance with known practice, and its details do not form part of the invention.

The cupola 1 is polygonal in plan (FIG. 3) with a inwardly sloping faceted wall in which are set thick glass block windows 9. The top of the cupola has a hatch closed by a hatch-cover in two parts 10 and 11 hinged at 12 and 13, respectively, to open wide, as in: dicated at in FIG. 3, to admit a gunner who occupies the turret with his head and shoulders normally in the cupola.

In place of one of its plain facets, the front wall or facet of the cupola is formed with a gun port 14 at the sides of which a pair of checks 15 are strongly built into the cupola structure to carry a pair of trunnion stubs. 16 on which a gun cradle 17 cast from a light alloy is journaled by ball bearings 18 about an elevation axis X--X .(FIG. 2) just outside the front facet of the cupola.

In the cradle 17 there is mounted an automatic gun 19 of which the barrel 20 projects from the cradle.

Remote controls (not shown, but conventional) are provided on, or connected to, the rear end of the cradle inside the cupola for arming or cocking and firing the gun.

A door 21 on the rear end of the cradle inside the cupola gives access to the gun breech and recoil mechanism and, if necessary, allows withdrawal of part of the mechanism into the cupola for service by the gunner under cover during operational use of the turret. A side door 22 on the cradle 17 also allows access to the ammunition feed mechanism from outside the cupola but below the silhouette and within lateral protection of the cupola.

Where it passes through the gun port 14, the cradle 17 carries a cylindrical armored mantelet 23 which is strongly structurally united with the cradle and is coaxial with the elevation axis XX so as to move in elevation with the cradle and close the gun port 14, except for the necessary small turning clearance, at all firing angles of elevation of the gun.

As can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 3, the rear of the cradle just protrudes into the cupola, and the major part of the cradle projects outwardly from the gun port 14 so that the major part of its weight and that of the gun lies forwardly of the elevation axis. To counterbalance the cradle and gun about the elevation axis, a combined spring and hydraulic cylinder 24 is carried by a supporting frame 25 depending from the cupola inside the turret, the piston rod 26 of the hydraulic cylinder being in tension and strongly pivoted to the rear end of the gun cradle 17 inside the cupola. The hydraulic cylinder also serves for laying the gun, a manually operated or motordriven pump being provided to operate the hydraulic cylinder as a ram to move the gun cradle in elevation about the axis X X.

To supply the gun with ammunition from a magazine inside the turret, the cupola has a projection 27, alongside the gun port (FIG. 3), to form an ammunition outlet port 28 (FIG. 4) to which a linked belt of ammunition from a box 29 in the turret is guided by a cowl 30 having a flared throat 31.

An ammunition chute 32 extends in a curved path from the outlet port 28 to a feed housing 33 on top of the gun cradle 17 (FIGS. 2 and 3) by which the chute 32 is carried so as to move in elevation with the cradle about the axis XX. The rear end of the chute 32 within the ammunition outlet port 28 is of atti-cylindrical shape so as to form a mantelet 34 which turns in the outlet port 28 and closes it at all firing angles of elevation.

It can be seen from FIGS. 2 and 3 that the elevation axis XX crosses the outlet port 28 and from FIG. 4, where the axis is indicated as X, that the flared throat 31 and mantelet 34 are coaxial with the elevation axis. Thus, a linked ammunition belt of rounds 35 passing through the cowl 30 and chute 32 can follow the movement of the chute 32 in elevation with the gun cradle 17.

The curve of the ammunition chute extends substantially through 90, from the outlet port 28 to the feed housing 33, and also lies substantially in the axial plane of the rounds 35. To guide the ammunition belt smoothly through the chute 32, a series of guide sprockets 36 are journaled in the lower wall of the chute 32 about axes 37 substantially radial to the curve of the chute (FIG. 3). The teeth of the sprockets 36 fit between the rounds 35 and laterally engage the links 38 between the rounds on the inside of the curve. This is illustrated somewhat diagrammatically in FIGS. 3A and 3B which respectively show a sprocket 36 in plan and in elevation along an axis 37. The guide sprockets 36 thus guide the ammunition belt by means of the links 38 and the noses and bases of the rounds 35 are kept out of contact with the sides of the chute 32.

It will be noted that the feed housing 33 is on top of the gun cradle, so that the ammunition rounds enter the feed mechanism from the top instead of from the side as is usual in the belt feed of automatic guns. To suit this arrangement, the gun 19 in the cradle 17 is simply turned about its own axis through an angle of from its conventional position. This has the advantage that the spent cases of the ammunition rounds 35 are ejected along a lateral path, indicated by the lines C in FIGS. 2 and 3, instead of the usual downward ejection which has the objection that ejected spent cases would violently encounter and bounce off the turret housing 2. Because of the relatively large propellant charges of modern ammunition, and relatively high rates of fire of modern automatic weapons, an appreciable amount of gas is produced during heavy firing. With an internally mounted weapon the ejection of cartridge cases is always a problem to some degree, but especially causes a large amount of fumes to be discharged into the turret and the vehicle. To satisfactorily ventilate such fumes requires a large quantity fiow of air, and under A.B.C. warfare conditions this air must be filtered for crew use. With the externally mounted weapon of this invention, both problems are avoided. The spent links 38 are ejected in a downward path, indicated by the lines L in FIGS. 1 and 2, but they are small and light and do not cause any harm by being ejected onto the turret housing 2.

As mentioned above, the cupola 1 has glass block windows 9 and, to preserve all-round visibility, despite the obstruction caused by the ammunition chute 32, a periscope 39 is provided above the cupola projection 27.

For aiming the gun, the cupOla is provided with three sights. A direct sight 40 is provided below the cradle and viewed by the gunner through the respective window 9. A similar open sight 41 is provided above the cradle for use by the gunner with the cupola hatch open. A periscopic sight 42 is provided for use from within the closed cupola.

Within the feed housing 33 there is preferably provided a resiliently-mounted sprocket mechanism, for ensuring correct alignment of the ammunition rounds as they enter the gun feed mechanism, as described in United Kingdom Patent No. 832,708 (US. 2,920,535).

Instead of ammunition being supplied to the gun from inside the turret, an armored external store or magazine could be provided on or with the cupola, so as to rotate therewith, and the ammunition outlet port would then be provided in such store or magazine but still located on the elevation axis to serve the gun in the same Way as described above.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the particular embodiment described and illustrated herein is susceptible of various modifications without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Accordingly it should be understood that the foregoing embodiment is merely exemplary of the invention, and that the scope of the invention is limited only by the subjoined claims in-' terpreted in the light of the foregoing specification and drawings.

Having thus described my invention in the manner required by the patent statutes, I claim:

1. A gun turret comprising a rotatable cupola, a gun port formed in the cupola wall below the uppermost profile of the cupola, a gun cradle for mountably supporting a gun and mounted on trunnions afiixed to the cupola about an elevation axis extending across the gun port so as to have the cradle extend from the inside of the cupola through the gun port with the major part of the gun cradle projecting outwardly from the gun port, a gun port mantelet movable with said cradle about said elevation axis to close said gun port at different firing angles of elevation, a door at the rear end of said cradle accessible from inside said cupola at all angles of elevation of said cradle to give access at all times to a gun in said cradle, and counterbalance means for balancing said cradle about said elevation axis.

2. A gun turret comprising a rotatable cupola, a gun port formed in the cupola wall, a gun cradle for mountably supporting a gun and mounted on trunnions about an elevation axis extending across the gun port so as to have the major part of the gun cradle project outwardly from the gun port, a gun port mantelet movable with said cradle about said elevation axis to close said gun port at diflerent firing angles of elevation, door means at the rear end of said cradle accessible from inside said cupola to give access to a gun in said cradle, counterbalance means for balancing said cradle about said elevation axis, means forming an ammunition outlet port movable with said cupola, means forming an ammunition feed housing on said cradle outside of said cupola, an ammunition chute outside said housing extending between said ammunition outlet port and said ammunition feed housing, and means mounting said ammunition chute for movement with said gun cradle in elevation and closing said ammunition outlet port at different firing angles of elevation.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein said means mounting said ammunition chute comprises a mantelet connected to said ammunition chute and pivotably disposed about said ammunition outlet port for pivotal movement thereabout upon corresponding movement of said gun cradle about said elevation axis.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3 wherein said ammunition outlet port is located alongside said gun port and substantially in alignment with said elevation axis, and the pivotal axis of said mantelet connected to said ammunition chute is substantially in alignment with said elevation axis.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 4 wherein said ammunition chute is curved through an angle of substantially 90 considered in a substantially horizontal plane between said ammunition outlet port and said ammunition feed housing so as to progressively move the longitudinal axes of rounds passing through said chute through angles of substantially 90 from said outlet port into alignment with the longitudinal axis of said cradle at said ammunition feed housing.

6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 5 further comprising a series of sprockets in said ammunition chute journalled I on axes substantially radial to the curve of said ammunition chute, the sprockets having teeth for fitting between the rounds of a linked ammunition belt and guiding the belt around the curve of the chute by engaging the links between the rounds on the inside of the curve.

7. Apparatus as set forth in claim 6 wherein said gun cradle has formed therein outside of said cupola an opening for discharging spent ammunition links therefrom and a side opening for discharging spent ammunition cases therefrom in a substantially horizontal direction.

8. A gun turret comprising a rotatable cupola, a gun port formed in the cupola wall, a gun cradle for mountably supporting a gun and mounted on trunnions about an elevation axis extending across the gun port so as to have the major part of the gun cradle project outwardly from the gun port, a gun port mantelet movable with said cradle about said elevation axis to close said gun port at different firing angles of elevation, door means at the rear end of said cradle accessible from inside said cupola to give access to a gun in said cradle, counterbalance means for balancing said cradle about said elevation axis, means outside of said cupola for conveying ammunition from said cupola to said gun cradle outside of said cupola, and openings formed in said cradle outside of said cupola for discharging spent ammunition cases and ammunition connecting links from said cradle.

9. A gun turret comprising a rotatable cupola, a gun port formed in the cupola wall, a gun cradle journalled about an elevation axis extending across the gun port, means forming an ammunition outlet port movable with said cupola, means forming an ammunition feed housing on said cradle outside of said cupola, an ammunition chute outside said housing extending between said outlet port and said feed housing, and means mounting said ammunition chute for pivotal movement about said outlet port with said gun cradle upon changes in elevation of said cradle.

10. Apparatus as set forth in claim 9 wherein said ammunition outlet port is located alongside but spaced from said gun port and substantially in alignment with said elevation axis, and the pivotal axis of said ammunition chute is substantially in alignment with said elevation axis, and wherein said ammunition chute is curved through an angle of substantially considered in a substantially horizontal plane between said ammunition outlet port and said ammunition feed housing so as to progressively move the longitudinal axes of rounds passing through said chute through angles of substantially 90 from said outlet port into alignment with the longitudinal axis of said cradle at said ammunition feed housing.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 701,870 6/1902 Geelhaar 8937 3,186,305 6/1965 Lorimer 8937 3,246,565 4/1966 Ramseyer 89-33 BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner,

S. C. BEN'ILEY, Assistant Examiner, 

1. A GUN TURRET COMPRISING A ROTATABLE CUPOLA, A GUN PORT FORMED IN THE CUPOLA WALL BELOW THE UPPERMOST PROFILE OF THE CUPOLA, A GUN CRADLE FOR MOUNTABLY SUPPORTING A GUN AND MOUNTED ON TRUNNIONS AFFIXED TO THE CUPOLA ABOUT AN ELEVATION AXIS EXTENDING ACROSS THE GUN PORT SO AS TO HAVE THE CRADLE EXTEND FROM THE INSIDE OF THE CUPOLA THROUGH THE GUN PORT WITH THE MAJOR PART OF THE GUN CRADLW PROJECTING OUTWARDLY FROM THE GUN PORT, A GUN PORT MANTELEWT MOVABLE WITH SAID CRADLE ABOUT SAID ELEVATION AXIS TO CLOSE SAID GUN PORT AT DIFFERENT FIRING ANGLES OF ELEVATION, A DOOR AT THE REAR END OF SAID CRADLE ACCESSIBLE FROM INSIDE SAID CUPOLA AT ALL ANGLES OF ELEVATION OF SAID CRADLW TO GIVE ACCESS AT ALL TIMES TO A GUN IN SAID CRADLE, AND COUNTERBALANCE MEANS FOR BALANCING SAID CRADLE ABOUT SAID ELEVATION AXIS. 